State Recommends Grant For Haitian Library Program

August 28, 1985|By Jeffrey Moore, Staff Writer

POMPANO BEACH — The city library has cleared a crucial obstacle on the way to receiving federal financing for a Haitian resource program.

The state`s Division of Library Services has recommended that a $70,000 grant be allocated to the city to hire a French-speaking librarian and to purchase library materials in French and English for use by the city`s estimated 6,000 Haitians.

No money will be forthcoming, however, until Congress appropriates the library funds to the U.S. Department of Education, which dispenses the money to state library programs, officials said.

The city`s grant request will now go to the ``governor`s clearing house,`` which reviews all requests for grants that originate in Florida, according to Loretta Flowers, federal projects coordinator for the Division of Library Services in Tallahassee.

``We`re not even sure we`ll receive federal funding this year,`` said Flowers, who added that the decision will probably be made in October. ``If the program is funded, it will probably be funded at the same level as last year.``

``I`m optimistic,`` she added.

With $2 million in grant money, all 150 grant requests from across Florida that were recommended for approval this year by the Division of Library Services could be funded, Flowers said.

One of them, the city`s proposal for a Haitian resource program, was the only Haitian library program considered, Flowers said.

Field developed the concept for the program by speaking with city police, city and school officials and the Haitian Mission of Pompano on Hammondville Road.

The project is designed to break down cultural and language barriers, help Haitians understand American society and enlighten the non-Haitian community on the culture of Haiti, Field said.

The program would be in a special room set aside in the Northwest Branch of the Pompano Beach City Library, 1580 NW Third Ave.